Assignment task: Read this Clinical social work Observation: A mom in Early Intervention contacted the director and demanded a meeting to switch service coordinators. As a student intern, you were able to listen in on the phone call. The mom explained that her son is severely disabled and is not speaking, has had a significant increase of behaviors and mom has seen no improvement with DI sessions. Mom wanted to increase sessions per week and also request a speech therapist and occupational therapist to be added to the service plan. The DI practitioner explained to the original service coordinator that the child sits in front of a screen all day and that mom has not participated in any of the sessions. There has been no carryover of any of the strategies. The original service coordinator explained to mom that early intervention is a family training model and if mom was not interested to carry over the strategies being taught in the sessions then it would be very difficult for any practitioner to establish a foundation of routine and learning. The service coordinator recommended adding in social work services to assist mom in connecting with her son. This is where the trigger arouses for mom. The clinical director, stood on the side of the service coordinator. She explained to mom that Early Intervention is a family training model and these practitioners are in the home to educate the family or individuals working with that child on how to better develop routine and support learning opportunities. The carryover of strategies is the most important portion of Early Intervention as the practitioners are only in the home 1 hour a day. This mom continued to demand to add a speech therapist and occupational therapist to the service plan. The clinical director proposed a resolution, in that she would request additional assessments by the evaluation team to determine if he is qualified for both of those services. If he is, then we can review adding them in. If he isn't, then his plan will have to remain the same until the six month review. The mom was content and hung up on the clinical director.
Illustrate Letter to Self (aspiring social worker): As a student social worker please explain the challenges of this experience with mom. Based on these observations and reflections, take a moment to compose a letter to yourself. In this letter, describe a plan by which you might become a more culturally sensitive and more empathic listener who can communicate with people in a warm, genuine, peaceful, and respectful manner. Be honest in acknowledging your current levels of cultural sensitivity and how you plan to change any deficits. Identify how you would know that you had progressed in these areas.